


Sleep Paralysis

by Alexsdttp



Series: Coffee & Espresso [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Anxiety, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25009831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexsdttp/pseuds/Alexsdttp
Summary: Adora has a strange sleep paralysis nightmare that Catra helps her through.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Coffee & Espresso [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774762
Comments: 6
Kudos: 135





	Sleep Paralysis

**Author's Note:**

> Just a lil thing I had rolling around in my head that is vaguely connected to the AU but not enough that I wanted to make it a chapter in either part.

She didn’t know how long it had been since the darkness surrounded her, ensnared her, _engulfed_ her.

She tried to remember what happened.

How she got here.

Where _here_ even was.

The darkness felt more than just an absence of light. Almost a physical sensation, an absence of _everything._ There was no heat, no sense of time passing, no discomfort, no sensation.

It felt like an instant and also an eternity as she started to be aware of herself.

The dull throb of blood pulsing through her temples was the first physical sensation she registered. Her limbs felt weighted down, impossible to move under an unknown force. Held down or lifeless, she couldn’t feel the difference.

There was light flashing around her but through eyelids far too heavy to open she couldn’t make sense of it. Sickly shades of green and yellow reminded her of something. A thought on the tip of her tongue, so close and so very far out of her grasp.

Eventually sounds began filtering through. Muffled and reverberating like she was trapped under water.

If she could just remember something. _Anything…_

Had she been fighting? The connection tethering her to the world felt ephemeral, so fragile a whisper could sever the tie and let her sink into a boundless abyss.

She tried to not relish that thought of simply letting the darkness take her. _Tried_ to fight.

Tried to feel her lungs expand in her chest but there was nothing.

The throbbing of her pulse feeling weaker each second.

More sensations came crawling back.

Pain. Overwhelming and searing pain. Fatigue hit every cell of her body at once, threatening to suffocate her till nothing was left of her.

Acidic green eyes that followed her mockingly down empty corridors. Taunting her. Assuring her of eminent failure.

It would be so easy to listen to those eyes and whispers. To let herself finally feel _peace._

A flash of memory; this nightmare was a familiar one. One that had haunted her for years now.

The First One’s sentinel slashing at her side.

Prime infecting the Heart.

And Catra-

_Catra._

Was she here? Had she left when Adora went to sacrifice herself _again?_

Panic flooded her veins as she screamed internally, begin her limbs to move, to do _anything_. To reach out to try and find Catra. To tell her everything was going to be okay. Nothing happened though. No movement, no reassurance for Catra passing her lips.

A thread of memory connected for a moment.

__Catra had been hit by the sentinel too right? She tried to remember but everything was so hazy and dark. Mind and body clouded by Prime’s virus that she was too weak to defeat.

She still didn’t even know if Catra was here.

But it didn’t matter.

Her sacrifice would mean Catra was safe. _Adora’s_ sacrifice, not _She-Ra’s_.

Catra wouldn’t have to watch her sacrifice herself anymore. Wouldn’t have to suffer because of Adora couldn’t say ‘no’ and only knew how to _give._ Never take. Never receive.

A new sensation.

Something holding her by her waist. Sharp needlelike sensations jabbing at her skin hard enough to break through the numbness that overwhelmed her.

A slight pressure on her forehead.

The softest of touch at her lips.

She demanded her eyes open but her body defied, seemingly content in the darkness. Paralysis holding her tightly. 

Something wet dripped onto her cheek.

Her ears were ringing so loudly. From an explosion? An injury? She wanted to scream. Wanted to just _remember._

A new pitch in the ringing. No, not ringing. A voice. Pleading and desperate.

_Adora-_

_You have-_

_-wake up-_

She could barely make sense of the words as they swirled around her head. Maintaining consciousness getting more and more difficult.

The grip around her sides tightened, threatening to pull her from the blissful darkness. Catra was there. Holding her.

But it was too late. Had been too late for quite some time because Adora couldn’t do this.

_-give up-_

_-never given up-_

_-not even on me-_

If she could just _give up_ there’d be no more suffering. No more sacrificing herself for others. No more pain.

_-not letting go-_

But Catra _needed_ to let go. Let go of Adora and how she was nothing but a failure.

A waste.

A mistake.

Wasn’t this her destiny after all? To give and give and _give_ until there was nothing left of her. Till every piece of her had shattered and disintegrated into the weak, pathetic, failure that she always knew she was. The imposter façade finally slipping away so everyone else could see what she truly was.

_Don’t-_

_-get it?-_

She wanted to reach out for her. To tell her it was okay. That she could let go now. That it was too late.

Adora was no hero. As much as she had tried to be, put on a brave face for everyone around her and just did her best to pretend.

_I love you_

_I always have_

_Please just this once_

_Stay_

Adora gasped for breath as she jolted up in bed. Her whole body covered in sweat. Heart threatening to slam right out of her ribcage.

Melog jumped and let out a small growl while Catra grabbed at her arm frantically. “Shit Adora. Are you okay?” she asked in a half-asleep panic.

Adora took a few tremulous breaths to try and shake the sleep paralysis nightmare from her system. “Yeah yeah I-I’m okay. Just a nightmare.”

Catra laid back and gently pulled her down to hold her gently. “You’re safe Adora. I’m here.”

Adora pressed her face into the side of Catra’s neck breathing in the coffee scent that seemed permanently fused to her fur. Catra’s hands traced comforting circles on her back as Adora felt herself slowly calming down.

_I love you too_

She pulled back just far enough to look into Catra’s mismatch eyes glowing in the dim light of their room. She searched for something there, unsure what she was looking for or what she would find. She found love, slight traces of fear, and trust. Catra’s hand gently cupped her cheek before leaning down to kiss Adora. The feelings of warmth and comfort and coming home flooding her with so much light that the shadows of the nightmare dissipated. The only thing left, the only thing that mattered, was Catra. Her soft lips, her coffee scent intoxicating and overpowering and exactly everything Adora needed.


End file.
